Hmmm...ME2 is still 49.99 on Steam. It didn't exactly drop way down for any significant length of time.

I'm seeing it as $20 on Steam. Amazon is selling it for $15. A quick check on Froogle shows that the average price is $20. Hell, even the official EA store is selling it for $20.

But you do NOT have a marketing guy sitting around in the room saying "you know, if you tighten up the graphics on level 3 this will sell more units, so go do that." You do on some shovelware. You do not have that in most AAA titles. There is no dedicated marketing guy sitting in the meeting with creative control.

Marketing plays a huge role in the green light process for any given project. If marketing doesn't think a game will sell, the chances of that game getting greenlit are extremely low.

Anyway, back on topic. As I mentioned before, most of the complaints people have about DNF can also be applied to the HL games as well.

- Long, atmosphere-building intro where player is forced to do relatively mundane tasks before they get any weapons or see any combat? Check.- Linear and highly scripted level design? Check.- Lengthy platforming and puzzle-solving segments? Check.- Drawn out vehicle segment where you constantly have to exit your vehicle in order to unblock your path? Check.

HL's influence on DNF is extremely obvious. What's strange is that people who loved the HL games are criticizing DNF for the things that made HL memorable.